MONTSERRAT, CATALONIA

Montserrat (jagged mountain in english) is unusually shaped, which makes it so attractive; I suppose this is the reason why a monastery was founded here on the XI century and, although Napoleon's troops totally destroyed it and killed the mooks, a Benedictine successor is there and very much alive. The Dark Virgin, a XII century wooden sculpture, is venerated there and is host to lots of pilgrims.
The mountain is some 50 kilometers from the great city of Barcelona and constitutes one of Catalonia's big attractions. Aditionally it gave its name to the homonym island in the Caribbean - but visually I do not see any coherence on this. I tend to say that, when in Barcelona, a day-visit here is an absolute must. The monastery is very big, very well maintained and includes, in addition to the Sanctuary of La Moreneta (the Dark Lady), a museum, a library and a boys' choir performing almost every day. Beyond the religious complex, the mountain itself deserves to be walked and climbed; it is  now a Natural Park and is well structured for allowing the visitors great views. Enjoy your visit!

MONTSERRAT, CARIBBEAN

Sometimes we talk about devastation, as sometimes it happens. In Montserrat it came in a tremendous way, very rarely in modern times anything of the kind happenned that touched such an incledible pourcentage of the population. This is because it is such a tiny island with around twelve thousand inhabitants before the big eruption, may be only fife thousand by now.
In 1997 a massive explosion of the Soufrière Hills volcano distroyed more than half the island, including the capital and forced the dislocation of most of the locals; such a part of the island is still an "exclusion zone", due to the risks of renewed sismologic activity.
I went there on a day trip from Antigua, which this is fairly enough to see what is available. Everything to be seen is related to the tragic events of 22 years ago.
First you are taken to a valley which defines the line of separation, where you can walk on ashes, lava and boulders and see nice abandoned villas. Then you go to the Volcano Observatory, located on a high position but out of the possible lines of destruction when the volcano stikes. From the mirador you have the volcano mountain in front and you see Plymouth,the (ex)capital, near to the sea and with just a few towers and houses above the ashes and debris: most of it lies now under the surface. Later at another mirador you can see, on the east side, the old airport - or inded what remains of it.